Great line-up tonite for the ANV record release party being hosted by Zebulon in Williamsburg/Brooklyn... Gatekeeper / Laurel Halo/ & Airbird (Joel from Games solo) are all signed on... The new Autre Ne Veut album just received featured album of the week honors from Other Music and we've posted their review below but between that and this is the brand new video for the track "Wake Up" - animated and directed by William Rockel - and it's a real doozy:
OTHER MUSIC WRITE-UP:
I've always been a fan of white-boy soul attempts to merge emotion with beats and swagger, a la Scritti Politti or A Certain Ratio, so it's nice to hear current names like Panda Bear, Ariel Pink and Toro Y Moi continuing this tradition. Now add Autre Ne Veut to the list, whose self-titled debut is an intoxicating concoction of swishy, hazy indie-electronic pop; his sweet-n-bitter falsetto and ear for rhythmic programming, mixed with an overall off-the-cup vibe, makes for one of the freshest records I've heard all year. Similar to female contemporaries Nite Jewel and Pearl Harbor, his sound could be best described as an opened time capsule containing '80s synth pop and '90s urban radio jams, all sonically reshaped through the technological advancements of the '00s -- a soft center of fragile intimacy, covered in a subtle low-fi sheen of spacious dubstep and R&B flavoring, all with a slightly skewed and queer bent. The albums mixer, Chris Coady (Delorean, Beach House), does a nice job at making all of the odd elements somehow feel accessible.
It's an original and engaging release that sparks lots of reference points, yet is special because of the way these elements are not so much copied as they are absorbed and re-envisioned in a youthful and unabashedly emotional release of energy -- a brilliant indie-pop album that remembers not only Prince but also John Hughes, being both sexy and sappy (which is not a diss, btw). From ANV's use of restraint to the colorful simplicity of his music, nothing is predictable, making for one of those special moments in indie rock when an artist emerges on the scene and actually lives up to the early blog hype. I've been listening to this on repeat since the day I first heard it, and it still holds up. I really can't say enough good stuff about this debut; it's definitely going to be the sleeper hit on many year-end lists. But don't wait until then, pick this up now and bask in Autre Ne Veut's nouveau, weirdo pop radiance.
-Daniel Givens / Other Music
It's an original and engaging release that sparks lots of reference points, yet is special because of the way these elements are not so much copied as they are absorbed and re-envisioned in a youthful and unabashedly emotional release of energy -- a brilliant indie-pop album that remembers not only Prince but also John Hughes, being both sexy and sappy (which is not a diss, btw). From ANV's use of restraint to the colorful simplicity of his music, nothing is predictable, making for one of those special moments in indie rock when an artist emerges on the scene and actually lives up to the early blog hype. I've been listening to this on repeat since the day I first heard it, and it still holds up. I really can't say enough good stuff about this debut; it's definitely going to be the sleeper hit on many year-end lists. But don't wait until then, pick this up now and bask in Autre Ne Veut's nouveau, weirdo pop radiance.
-Daniel Givens / Other Music
great stuff, is there a cover to get in tonight?
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